Manor of Sleep
by hidden-truths
Summary: After a year of searching for Shadow after his fall from Ark, Sonic begins to have strange dreams and visions of his counterpart, and notices he is slowly changing along the way. Are these dreams the key to finding Shadow? Or do they have a more sinister
1. Entering the Mansion

HiddenTruths: MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I'M BACK!

Everyone else: You were hardly gone

HiddenTruths: Yeah, well, shurrup.

LEGAL STUFF - I DON'T OWN ANY OF THE CHARACTERS IN THIS STORY

HiddenTruths: I HATE YOU SEGA! YOU MAKE ME WRITE A DISCALIMER! DAMN YOU TO HELL!

OK I'm calm now, so on with the story!

By the by, I suppose you could call some of this a crossover of fatal frame (project zero) as well as sonic, but only because of similarities in the storyline.

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Sonic walked down the forest pathway, the fog surrounded his and ungulfed him, and the only noise to be heard was the light crunch of his steps on the dead leaves covering the dirt-path. He walked on blindly through the mist, until he finally saw it.

At the end of the path, outlined lightly against the fog, was a huge mansion, decripit and old.

Sonic had never seen it before, never heard of it, but it was as though something was just calling to him from it, he wasn't sure why he wanted to go, bt he did, so, being Sonic, he went.

To be honest he wasn't even sure how he got there, he just carried on walking down the path without a second thought, until he reached the mansion. The fog had thinned out round the giant house, making it easier to see. It wasn't a particularly nice house, though it obviously once was. He glanced at it, it was big, but apart from that, there was nothing really special about it.

The urge to go had suddenly disappeared.

Sonic was like that, really wanting to do something one minute than totaly changing his mind the next. He had no idea how he was going to get back though, he wasn't even sure how he'd gotten there in the first place. He was just about to turn around and leave when something caught his attention in the corner of his eye.

He turned on his heel, and watched in wonderment at a ghostly figure entering the mansion. It was a hedgehog, one he recognised all too well, with black fur and red streaks and a bracelet on one wrist. There was something different about this hedgehog than Sonic remembered though, he wasn't sure what it was though, he didn't seem to be sure of much at the moment.

He just watched as his old friend, Shadow the Hedgehog, entered the mansion, leaving Sonic alone in the mist.

The urge to go had suddenly returned.

On another one of his change of hearts, he followed Shadow into the mansion catiously, opening the decorative doors, and stepping into the dark.

The mansion was as dilapidated and rustic inside as it had been outside. A thick layer of dust covered the stacks of broken furniture, beams barracaded most areas of the room, fallen from where they once stood, and nearly everything in the room had deteriorated beyond recognition. He slowly made his way in and searched the room, there was no sign of Shadow anywhere. He carried on further inside, barely beeing able to see by the dim light of lit torches.

'Shadow must have lit them,' Sonic thought as he climbed a few small stairs, 'but why is he here? I mean I thought he was...' Sonic musings trailed off. He'd spent the best part of the last year searching for his black and red counterpart, but he was nowhere to be found. He hadn't so much as seen him, until he saw him walk through that front door.

He spotted a sliding screen in the corner, and he went over to it. The screen had rotted and it was barely clinging on to the runners which allowed it to move. Sonic gave it a great tug, and finally, with some effort, he managed to drag it off to the side, revealing a long, thin room. He was just about to enter when he felt something on his leg.

He looked down, nothing there.

He tried to take a step, but it felt like something was weighing him down. He looked down again, he saw a pale shape near his foot. He leaned down to look closer. Suddenly he jumped back, falling through the doorway, as he saw the pale figure of a man hlding on to his foot. It lost him grip of him as he fell back.

Sonic watched in horror from where he'd fallen on the floor as the man slowly stood up. He took the screen in both hands and wrenched it shut, leaving Sonic in the long hallway to wonder what had happened. Sonic just looked at the door in shock and confusion.

'What the hell just happened there?...And who was that man?' Several questions filled his head as he stood up from the dusty floor. He wiped the dust off him fur and looked back up at the screen. He looked around for something that might help tell him what to do, but after finding nothing, he decided to try open the door.

'This must be one of the single most stupid things I've decided to do,' Sonic thought, 'and that's really saying something.' He took the handle in his hand and took a deep breath as he pulled.

Nothing happened.

He pulled at the door again.

Nothing continued to happen.

Again and again he tugged at the screen, but he couldn't shift it. He sighed and gave up at opening the door. He noticed that a lot of screen had rotted away at the bottom though. Catiously, he knelt down on one knee and peered through a hole in the thick paper. He found himself looking eye to eye with the ghostly man.

He yelped and jumped back, wrenching himself up and looking to the door expectantly.

'Definetely not one of my better ideas.' He jumped when the screen shifted slightly, then went back, and shifted again, as though someone was trying to tug the door open, but it was jammed. 'I think that's my cue to go.'

Sonic ran down the long hall as feet as his feet could carry him, meaning he got there in half a second. At the end of the corridor was a tall mirror. He looked at himself on the dirty surface.

'Now is not the time to worry about my appearance,' Sonic scolded himself in his mind, but he couldn't help but stare into it, as the image of a blue hedgehog turned to that of a familiar black and red one.

Then, at the other end of the hall, the door opened.

Sonic sat up, panting heavily and looking round the room frantically for the figure of the man. There was no-one there to be seen. He flopped back down on his bed and looked to the ceiling.

'What a dream,' he told himself, putting his hand to head an closing his eyes. He opened his eyes slowly and got out of bed. 'I won't be able to get back to sleep after that.' He walked slowly to the bathroom, plodding along, still half-asleep. He was lost in thought and he turned on the tap to run some cold water. Usually when he had dreams they meant something, that worried him.

He splashed some water on his face. It was cool and refreshing. He picked up a towel and wiped his face dry. He looked up into the mirror. Suddenly his breathing stopped. He leaned in closer to be sure of what he saw. Yes, he had seen it, it was there.

Both his eyes had turned a dark crimson. Sonic shook his head and looked again, trying to work out if he was seeing what he thought he was seeing. He was.

'Remind you of anyone?' A voice in his head whispered to him. This voice was different though, not his own, it was deeper, it sounded like...

"Shadow?" He looked round, but there was no-one there. He sighed and shook his head.

"Must be imagining things." He turned and left the room, not seeing the image of a certain black and red hedgehog left in the mirror.

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Well well well, I'd always wanted to write a kind-of crossover between fatal frame and sonic, well, my dream is being realised!

Please review, I think this one could do with some serious creative critisism, but I know half the spelling is wrong, word isn't working so I had to use notepad and that doesn't have spellcheck TT.


	2. Unveiled Past

Yay! The next chapter! Hopefully this will be slightly better than the last since it isn't 5 o clock in the morning. TT lol I won't do that again, damn my permanent insomnia! Shakes fist

Everyone else : OO Why is she shaking her fist at thin air?

DISCLAIMER (...) I DON'T OWN ANY OF THE CHARACTERS IN THIS STORY, AND IF I DECIDE TO USE IT, I DON'T OWN THE CAMERA OBSCURA EITHER (IF, I said IF, we'll see)

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Sonic leant on the desk contemplating over his dream. 'Is Shadow really alive? My dreams usually mean something important, and my eyes...they're still red, they're must be something going on here, and I intend to find out.' He switched on his computer and sat back and waited for it to start up.

His house was small, but easily big enough for just himself to live in, and a friend to stay if he wanted. He hadn't had too many people over lately though, he'd been so caught up with trying to find Shadow, he felt so guilty, his friends had tried to help, but they couldn't do much. It had a living room, full of knick-knacks and souvenairs from his and his friends' holidays and travels round the world. There was small kitchen to one side and the bathroom on the other. There were two bedrooms, the guest room, which was just big enough to fit a double in with a cupboard, and his bedroom, the next biggest room in the house, was decrated cream and red, he'd always been a fanof the oriental style, and he had a futon bed and a few cupboard built into the wall where he kept most of his stuff.

His computer finally finished starting up and he clicked onto a file he'd been adding to over the year with everything that had helped him get closer, hopefully, to finding Shadow, if he was alive, or if the worst should have happened...

He snapped out of his thoughts as he scrolled through a few pictures, he'd got acess to the Ark files when he'd asked Gun VERY nicely, it wasn't as top secret as it had been before since everyone had witnessed the fight to save the Earth in outer space and knew that Shadow was existent in the least.

Suddenly his computer went crazy as a thousand different programs started up at once, Sonic couldn't keep track of them as they all activated themselves. Then they suddenly stopped and on the screen was a solitary program, one Sonic hadn't seen before.

Catiously he scrolled down it, it didn't look like the computer was going to do that again. He read through the text, his eyes went wide as he read on.

'_Experts are baffled by an incident discovered earlier today by man hiking in the local woods, after hearing his claims of a disaster in a small village deep inside, authorities followed him skeptically, to discover a horror beyond all belief._

_There is a small village in the woods that was until recently known by very few people who stepped up after hearing of the tragedy that had befallen it, many of who have helped the police in their investigations. Hundreds of people were found dead in the village, not a single survivor was found, except one black and red hedgehog on the outskirts, covered in blood and staring at the dead bodies surrounding him, shaking and absoloutely terrorfied, the police have decided to question him when they are sure his mental state is stable._

_The incident is being investigated as murder, although the few people who claimed to have had knowledge of the village's existence, insist it was a repentance, they were paying for something horrible they did. They all claimed this, but psychiatrists report mental instability in the past, although they have been deemed stable enough to lead normal lives, despite constant claiming of the repentace._

_All victims in the village bore deep slash marks, some even had holes straight through their bodies, police officer Parker describes it as 'a horrific scene, and the authorities are going to work round the clock to find whoever is responsible for this evil deed and make sure they are punished to the full extent of the law.'_

_We have to ask though, who could possibly take out a whole village? It would take a group of at least fifty to even TRY to partake in a mass murder of this calibre, and even so, sources say the village is well protected, unfortunately they will not tell us any more, saying it would be too dangerous, but one thing's for sure, such a calmity hasn't been seen around here since the great war. _

_Police urge people not to panic, but to be catious, and for anyone who had information to step up. A new home for the black and red hedgehog who identifies himself as Shadow is being prepared as soon as possible, until then he will stay in the care of a local mental care facility, until he can be deemed fit to continue of with a normal life.'_

Sonic's mouth hung open as he read the report, then he noticed a couple of pictures at the bottom, one was of the police officer the reporter had talked to, and the other was of Shadow, he looked younger than before somehow. 'But isn't Shadow immortal? I thought he didn't age.' Sonic shrugged off the thought and mused on some more pressing thoughts. 'Was this report here before? I don't remember if being here, and it just appeared after the computer went crazy, why did it do that anyway?' He shook his head, all these questions were giving him a headache.

He put down his hand to rest it on the desk, to feel instead of the sturdy wood, a piece of paper underneath his glove. He lowered his head to see a thick piece of paper on his desk with the words, 'The repentance,' on it. He turned it over, and to his suprise saw a photo of Shadow, he was in his super form, and the outlines of something covered the ground, but the lighting in the picture wasn't good, and he couldn't tell what it was.

'Where did this come from?' Sonic questioned in his mind, examining the photo carefully, 'this is getting way to weird.' He scanned the photo and added it to his file, as well as the news report, then rested his elbow on the table, thinking carefully. Everything that had happened in the last 24 hours seemed to be connected, the mansion, the deaths, and Shadow was in the centre of it all.

And the even more suprising thing was that the news article was dated 50 years ago.

It immediatly caught Sonic's attention when he saw it scrawled in the top right hand corner, 50 years ago, that's when Shadow lost Maria...could the events be linked together? He decided to go to the window, a place where he usually thought, for some reason he liked being by the window, probably because he liked the outdoors, a lot more space to run around in, another thing he hadn't done for a while. Sonic sighed, 'I need to sort myself out.'

He leaned on the windowsill and closed his eyes, he could hear the soft drizzle outside and the wind blowing through the trees. They pattered and blew against the window, and he listened as he stood deep in thought, trying to find the connection between all the strange goings-on he'd experienced in the last day.

His ears perked up as he heard a new sound. He opened his eyes and turned round quickly. A short bang, nothing more, but it was followed by another, and another, slowly getting louder, almost like the sound of someone walking.

He ran to his bedroom, where the sound was coming from, getting ready to defend himself against any intruders. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw who was in his bedroom. Standing in front of him was Shadow. He wasn't sure what to do, what to think, he just stood there, as did Shadow, the silence cutting through the air.

Finally, Sonic got over the shock and with a cry of joy he wrapped his arms round Shadow, smiling happily, more than happy.

"Shadow! I thought you were dead!" Shadow stood still in Sonic's arms and waited. The blue hedgehog realising he'd been holding on to Shadow for some time, let go of him with an embarassed chuckle. "Sorry." He looked down to the floor, flushing a slight pink, hoping that Shadow didn't notice him blushing.

"Sonic," the blue hedgehog's head shot up at the sound of his name, he waited patiently for his counterpart to continue, "you're in trouble, you've got yourself caught up in something dangerous." Sonic frowned, this was not the conversation he was hoping to have with his supposedly deceased friend. "I can't get you out of it, but I can help you." Shadow took out something he'd been holding behind his back, it was antique camera, he handed it to Sonic who looked at it in confusion. "Just use it, use it to fight against the mansion, I'll try to help you, but, there's difficulties." The black hedgehog's eyes lowered.

Sonic suddenly felt a wave of tiredness rush over him. He rapidly found it hard to keep his eyes open. Shadow helped him to his bed, and Sonic heard the black hedgehog speak as his last moments awake passed.

"Just use the camera, I believe you can do this."

Then, he drifted off to the manor of sleep.

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Oooooh, well I hope this chapter is better than the last, and I decided to use the camera obscura, so I suppose this is defintely a crossover between fatal frame (project zero) and sonic, but only because of the plot and camera. Most of it will be different, don't worry.

Please review!


	3. Visions of a Camera

Woo, here is the next chapter, not much to say so, enjoy!

DISCLAIMER - DON'T OWN ANY OF THE CHARACTERS OR THE CAMERA OBSCURA

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Sonic opened his eyes to find himself in a familiar dark hallway. He felt the camera in his hand and looked down at it. It was very old, and it had Japanese characters on the bottom, they were worn though and Sonic couldn't read them. His thoughts went back to what Shadow had said, 'use the camera,' he glanced down at it again, what was so special about it? 'Use it to fight against the mansion,' fight the mansion? How could he fight a building? He shook his head. 'Maybe I'm taking this too literally.' Just then he was snapped out of his thoughts by the sound of a door opening at the end of the hallway.

He took a sharp intake of breath as the familiar, slightly transparent, figure of a man came from the sliding screen and entered the hallway. His breath became deep and fast as he tried not to panic. 'Use the camera to fight the mansion, what could it mean?' The ghost slowly made his way towards Sonic. 'Fight the mansion, does he mean, fight this guy? Does that mean there's more like him around here?' He paused, noticing the spirit man was half way down the hall now. 'Well, it couldn't hurt to try.' He raised the camera in front of him, focusing through the viewer so he had a shot of the man. 'I hope this works.'

Just as the man was about to make a grab for Sonic, he pressed the button and there was a flash. It illuminated the decrepit remains of the room, highlighting every rotting feature of the hallway as the man staggered backwards from Sonic, clutching his hands to face. Sonic smiled, 'Yes! It works!' He focused the camera again and pressed the button. The man was sent falling backwards every time Sonic used the camera. Several flashes lit up the room, until the man gave out a blood-curdling scream.

Sonic winced, even if it was someone trying to kill him from beyond the grave, he couldn't stand to hear someone in pain.

The man dropped to his knees, doubling over as though he was in pain. A vortex opened up behind him, and in a strange twisting of light, the man was gone. Sonic stared in confusion. 'Well that was weird,' he walked up to where the man had been, 'but at least he's gone now.' He looked down at the camera in his hands. 'This camera, how did it fight against the ghost?' He looked round at the room, then back again at the door to make sure nothing else was going to jump out at him from behind it.

Satisfied, he made his way down the hall towards the mirror. Once again for some strange reason it caught his attention. He squinted at it, it was hard to see through the thin layer of dust covering it, but he could've sworn it wasn't there last time. He shrugged, 'like anything makes sense here,' and he wiped off some of it with his glove, so he could see his face. He could see himself in the mirror again, he waited for it to change last time.

Nothing happened.

He waited a little longer, but still nothing happened. He glanced at the crimson eyes that stared back at him, why would they just suddenly change colour? Suddenly his image disappeared. His eyes widened, and he peered deeply to find himself, but there was nothing to be seen, until he noticed the pair of red eyes still gazing intently from beyond the reflective surface.

Cautiously, he reached out his hand to touch the image, but as his hand neared the mirror, a black and red hedgehog appeared from inside, and a red-streaked arm reached out to grab his arm. Two pairs of crimson eyes met for a moment and they were warped to a place beyond the reaches of all possibility.

This place, was exactly were he was standing before.

Sonic blinked, 'what just happened? Did anything happen?' Then he heard voices behind him. He turned to see three people walking down the corridor towards him, seemingly oblivious of his presence. These three people consisted of a familiar man, 'that ghost,' Sonic thought as he watched him walk down the hall, talking to another man next to him who looked very prestigious, but the blue hedgehog didn't recognise him. The third person was a hedgehog Sonic instantly recognised, Shadow followed the pair, hands by his sides and eyes fixed to the floor.

As they neared Sonic he could hear small phrases of the pair's conversation.

"You must understand Makito, I am seriously indebted to Professor Gerald, it is my duty to look after Shadow as if he were my own son." The man Sonic didn't know said with a tinge of annoyance in his voice as he turned his head to reveal a pair of icy blue eyes. They didn't focus on anything as he spoke to the man beside him, but wandered off to a random direction.

"I know, but I sense an evil aura around him, one day Sakio, he will turn on us, then the lives of everybody will be in danger." The man who Sonic knew was the ghost he had fought before. His head filled with questions, 'what is going on? The mansion, it's changed, it looks good as new, is this a vision of the past?' He directed his attention to Shadow, 'so he did come here.' He also noticed a familiar object in his hands.

"The camera!" Sonic said softly, then immediately gasped and cupped his hands to his mouth. Shadow's head shot up instantly, staring intently in his direction, but the two men carried on unfazed. Sonic turned his eyes away and heard more snippets of talk.

"He is bitter, but it will pass, he has a good heart and nature, have you not seen him with the children?" The other man nodded.

"Yes, especially that blue hedgehog, he seems to have taken a particular shine to him, a peculiar one that young man, seems to have wisdom beyond his years though." The man with the icy eyes nodded.

"Yes, quiet, but very intelligent, he wouldn't befriend Shadow if there was any reason to not trust him."

"I suppose so, I'll trust in your judgement for now, but I'll be keeping my eye on him."

As this conversation went on, Shadow continued to walk on looking in Sonic's direction, ignoring the words of the men. As they turned a corner by Sonic, Shadow stopped in front of the blue hedgehog. He raised the camera, and took a picture of the baffled hedgehog. He stood frozen as Shadow leaned in near his ear and whispered.

"I'm sorry." With an apologetic look and a small bow, Shadow continued after the men who seemed oblivious to him stopping.

Sonic was confused beyond words, 'how did he see me? Why did he apologise?' He watched as the trio went through a door, and made to run after them when suddenly the scene vanished, and once again he was surrounded by the crumbling walls of the hallway, back in present time. Sonic was facing the way he had meant to run, and by his side was the mirror, now showing his reflection again, blue fur, crimson eyes and all.

He glanced towards the door and gasped when he heard whispered words.

"This way, this way!" He looked around for the source of the voice and jumped when the door suddenly shot open. He took his camera in both hands, ready to fight, but nothing came. After a final look around, he made his way to the door.

The next room was as in bad condition as the last. It was wide, with a doorway in one wall at the bottom of a flight of stairs. Around the walls were placed many pieces of rotted furniture, including cupboards, drawers and some things that were undistinguishable. On one wall hung a colourful piece of cloth. There was a picture on it. Sonic leaned in to try see what it was, but as it did, droplets of red began to drip down, forming crimson trails and they flowed down the painting. The drops turned to a huge swear of crimson across the cloth.

'Blood,' Sonic thought, as he backed away, bumping into a cupboard pushed up to the wall behind him. He jumped and looked behind him, relieved to see it was only the cupboard he'd backed into. He turned back to look at the picture, to see the blood had disappeared, and the portrait had seemingly returned to normal.

He cautiously moved towards it, stopping as the blood began to form again. He stepped back again, and the crimson disappeared. Suddenly he heard a voice behind him.

"Use the camera!" He turned on his heel, but once again, no-one was there. He looked at the picture and raised his camera. 'Use the camera,' he thought to himself. A click later, Sonic had taken a picture of the cloth. Nothing happened. As still nothing occurred, Sonic took a step towards the picture.

For the second night in a row, Sonic woke up, breathing heavily. He looked round, he was back safely in his bedroom. 'Last time…' He shot up out of bed and ran to the bathroom mirror and crimson eyes went wide as he saw one blood red streak running through the centre of his head.

"What's happening to me?" Sonic's voice was quiet in the silent bathroom. "What's going on?"

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Oooh, spooky Oo Tell me what you think, please review!

By the by, there will be a few fan characters in this, but none as major. 


	4. Another Visit

Well, I've nothing better to do, so on with the story, though this may be shorter than the last chapter.

DISCALIMER - I DON'T OWN ANY SONIC TEAM CHARACTERS OR THE CAMERA OBSCURA

BUT I DO OWN MY FAN CHARACTERS! HAH!

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Sonic stood looking in the mirror in wonderment and shock.

"What's going on here?" He asked again, not to anyone in particular though, as there was no-one there, just to his reflection in the mirror. He ran his hands over his quills, tracing the crimson streak across his head. He sighed. "I need a coffee."

He walked over to his kitchen, but as he went down the hallway, he heard a small noise. He looked behind him to see the living room door move slightly. He inched closer and waited. Suddenly it opened, slowly with a long creak. What made it more spooky was that it was barely visible through the dark, it was still early morning, and was it not for one sole lantern lit in the corner, it would be pitch black in the room.

Sonic's eyes widened, not only in the mansion of his nightmares, but in his own home, it seemed he couldn't escape these mysterious goings-on no matter where he was, awake of asleep. He crept to the door and entered the living room, which to his surprise was fully lit, every crevice of the room was showered with light. This was slightly comforting, yet again chilling as the lights seemed to have come on all by themselves. As he went further in the room, some objects on his desk caught his attention.

Lying on his desk was the camera obscura, 'but didn't I have it when I went to sleep? I could've sworn I did,' Sonic mused as he approached it. On closer inspection he noticed a pile of photographs scattered around the camera on the desk. He glanced at some of the images, these were the photos he took with the camera of that spirit man.

"But how is that possible?" Sonic asked himself. Then he noticed something even stranger. Over in the corner of the desk was another photo, not one of his own hand, but one of a blue hedgehog, though you couldn't tell the colour because the photo was black and white, but Sonic instantly knew who it was standing in the photo, in front of a mirror. "That's me," he whispered. Next to the photo lay a small piece of paper, folded up neatly.

He picked it up and unfolded it, carefully reading the slightly smudged words written on the flimsy piece of paper.

'Today I saw something very strange. I saw Sonic there, clear as day, except he was different, taller, older, the others didn't notice him. I realised it must be one of my visions again, they become more frequent by the day. At least this one wasn't a vision of death. But why was Sonic here? Was it even Sonic? I'm sure it was him, maybe it's him from a future time. I have a bad feeling about this…

I showed Sonic the picture, he said he'd seen himself walking round the mansion a few times too. I feel glad he's here, he's the only one who shares these visions with me, others find us a little strange for it. He's very quiet though, he says less and less every day, and now he rarely talks to anyone but me, I'm worried something is troubling him, he always seems far away, not entirely living in the moment, he's like that often, but more so lately…

I've decided to try see the older Sonic again, maybe he needs help, I'll try really hard to help if I can, I'd do anything for Sonic…'

The note stopped there, the writing too smudged to read. Sonic's heart broke at that last sentence, he'd always wanted to be that close to Shadow, and it seemed once, he did. He sat down at the desk chair and read the note over again and again. So that's why Shadow had seen him, it seemed he had a kind of sixth sense, and that he himself did too, that would explain a lot of things he had seen in the past, those things every else insisted were not there…

He shook his head, eventually he's stopped telling people when he'd seen something strange, they'd just say he was lying or had lost his mind if he did, ever since he was little.

Amazing how even the world's greatest hero even had dark secrets to keep.

He returned his thoughts back to the present time, he really needed that coffee he decided on a whim, and without a further thought he went to the kitchen. Soon he was sitting down and sipping from his favourite mug, contemplating over recent events, ti wall strange, he could hardly tell when he was in the real world, or in the dream world…

He struggled to create the barrier between the two, he couldn't lose sense of order, or he'd go mad, if it wasn't for being so used to seeing strange things, he'd already have lost it. Suddenly he heard a noise behind him. He turned to see Shadow once again, standing behind him, wearing a worried expression on his face. Sonic was overjoyed and rushed back to his black counterpart's side. Shadow held out his arm and Sonic stopped dead in his tracks, he shivered as a deep voice spoke, in an unnaturally cold and dead tone.

"Sonic, I can't stay much longer, now you're starting to understand, I'm afraid I may not be able to hold on to my well-meaning side much longer. It's hard to explain, but if I attack you, you must use the camera, I'll be fine, do what you have to do, if you can make it through this, I can finally return to normal and rest in peace, then we can be together at last." Sonic blinked at these last words, and Shadow seemed to crack a sad smile. "My other side will help you, my younger side, the one who took that picture of you," he referred to the picture in the living room, "but remember, if you are in doubt of anything just use the camera. And remember, if you survive, we'll be together at last."

With these last words, Shadow disappeared, leaving Sonic alone in the house, staring at the spot he had stood moment before sadly. He hung his head.

"I'll try my best Shadow."

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Well this is shorter, but it shall do, please review! 


	5. Uncovering the Truth

DISCLAIMER - I DON'T OWN THE CHARACTERS OR THE CAMERA OBSCURA

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Sonic stared at the floor where Shadow had stood only seconds ago and thought about what Shadow had told him to do, use the camera against him, but Sonic didn't want to cause him pain. But he also said that if Sonic got through this, they'd be back together again…

Back together, it was strange to think that, that they were once together, but such a long time ago. He sighed. After finishing his drink he made his way back to the living room, he needed to give those photos a closer look, he needed all the help he could get to try figure this out. On his way past the window, he noticed it was still dark and looked at the clock. Midday. That was strange; it was as dark as though it was the dead of night.

He looked out through the pitch black sky and saw the droplets of rain falling through the sky. It was raining heavily, and every now and again a flash would illuminate the sky, lighting up to reveal the woodland scenery round Sonic's house. He could hear the thunder rumbling in the distance, the storm wasn't close yet, but it would be soon. Suddenly, another light lit up outside, and Sonic saw a figure through the window through the corner of his eye.

"What?" He leaned closer, and another flash of lightning lit up the sky. Sonic cried out as jumped back as a figure well against the window, pressed up against the glass, then disappearing again. Sonic was up on his feet like a shot, and after going to the living room to pick up the camera, rushed outside into the torrential rain. It was so dark he could hardly see his hand in front of his face, but a small outside light made it possible to make his way round the side of the house without falling.

He kept his hand on the wall, edging his way along the outside wall of his house, the rain falling heavily on him and drenching his fur a dark navy. He squinted through the dark, looking round expectantly, waiting for something to jump out at him. He carried on, clutching the camera in his shaking hand as he made his way through the freezing cold. He a few windows before coming to the one he recognised as the one he'd been looking out at earlier.

A flash lit the sky, but Sonic didn't see the figure coming up behind him. He didn't even know it was there until he heard the chilling plea.

"Pl..e..a..sse, help…m..e…" His eyes went wide and he didn't dare move. He forced himself to turn his head round, to see a man standing right behind him, a man he'd fought before. With a surprised cry he blindly raised his camera and took a shot, missing the ghost by several feet. The ghost lunged at him, grabbing his foot as it did before. Sonic panicked and frantically tried to shake it off, before giving it a good hard kick, surprised when his foot actually connected with the transparent being.

Taking his chance he backed away as fast as he could, quickly raising the camera and focusing at the ghost. To his shock though, the spirit disappeared. He brought the camera around and turned every which-way, searching desperately for the ghost. He felt a cold on his back, and he twisted round, taking a blind shot at the air behind him. Luckily, he hit the ghost and it stumbled backwards, crying out in pain.

Another flash lit up the body of the spirit in more clarity, Sonic gasped when he saw that it had no legs, its body just ended where they should be, and he dragged himself along the floor, pulling himself by his arms. Once again he gave a heart-wrenching plea.

"Please, he..lp..mee.." Sonic couldn't stand to see anyone if so much pain, but what could he do? The answer was clear, put him out if his pain. He raised the camera.

"I'm sorry." He pressed the button, getting a direct hit. The ghost slumped to the floor screaming in pain and moments later, it was gone. Sonic stood alone in the cold dark, shaking like a leaf. Another flash of light brought his attention to a small notebook laying on the floor by the window, reflection the light on its shiny surface. He picked it up, when he opened it he saw most pages were ripped out, leaving only a few with little written on them.

'Why didn't Sakio listen to me? I told him that Shadow was dangerous, and when Sonic began to turn down any company except his, I knew there was something going on. Sonic was always quiet, but he grew increasingly so, until he shunned contact from everyone apart from Shadow, who he would spend hours with, talking and laughing. They both seemed like their old selves, like before it happened…

Such things shouldn't be spoken of, but something equally as unspeakable is happening, people are disappearing, then being found dead, appearing to have died the most gruesome deaths. I have no doubt that Shadow is responsible.

Sonic disagrees.

He and Shadow have both been talking about seeing a hedgehog similar to Sonic in appearance around the mansion, the thought it unnerving. Everyone in the mansion has grown uneasy, and there's a feeling of being watched lingering in every hallway and room.

Then we saw him, Shadow covered in blood, shivering in the middle of a room, surrounded by the bodies of those he had killed. I knew he had done it, Sonic still refuses to believe, and stopped me from being able to punish Shadow, but he can't protect him for long, I will avenge those who Shadow killed.

I have to watch my back, who knows, Shadow may come after me next.'

Sonic dropped the notebook to the floor, shaking violently, eyes unfocused in the darkness. 'No, Shadow would never do that, never, but, if he could do that to Gun, who knows…no! He had a reason for that, it wasn't an excuse, but Shadow doesn't go around killing people for no reason. But what if it's true? I don't know what to think'  
Suddenly he heard a noise behind him. It was hundreds of voices, all crushed together, voices screaming in agony and begging for mercy. But there was one voice above them all.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." He turned to see Shadow behind him. Their eyes met. There was a moment as Sonic stared into Shadow's ruby eyes.

Then he ran.

He ran through the darkness to his front door. 'I've got to get away, there's something wrong with Shadow, gotta run away.' He reached his door. He tried to open it, but it wouldn't open. He tried again harder, but no matter how he tried, the door was stuck fast. He banged his fists on the door, he could hear Shadow getting closer.

"I didn't mean to, I'm sorry…" Sonic tried again desperately to get through the door, but it was in vain. 'No, no no no no no no NO!' Then he heard Shadow's cold breath on his neck. 'But the dead don't breath.' Sonic didn't know why this was what he was thinking as he heard Shadow's almost silent words, but it was the last thought that filled his head before he collapsed unconscious.

"Sonic, please forgive me!"

Then all was black.

Images played across Sonic's mind, people were running, Shadow followed, some were trying to escape, but the doors wouldn't open, there were dead bodies everyone, Shadow sat shivering in the middle, Sonic stood to the side of the room looking at the dead bodies of Makito and Sakio.

"Shadow, what have you done?"

The images stopped.

"Sonic, I'm sorry…"

Sonic woke up in a large room. He was lying on the dusty floor, camera by his side. He jolted upright, looking round. He was in the mansion again, surrounded by its wrecked and rundown walls. He was in the room he was in last when he last visited the mansion. He buried his head in his hands.

"Shadow, it's true, why?" He looked up again sadly, looking at the falling apart remains of the mansion. "How could you do this?"

Suddenly a draft blew through the room, and there was a light bang as the cloth hanging on the wall hit the wall, blown around slightly by the wind. Sonic looked at it, last time, he never got a chance to see it properly.

He got up off the floor, making sure to take the camera with him. As he approached the picture, he felt a sense of being watched. He looked behind him, there was no-one there. But he didn't see the figure looking down at him from the balcony at the top of the stairs. The figure turned and sadly walked away.

"I'm sorry…" Sonic heard the whisper. He looked up quickly and scanned the room, there was no-one there.

His attention turned back to the picture. He leaned in and looked carefully, trying to depict the picture. From what it could see, it appeared to be two hedgehogs, one black, one white, facing each other. He looked at it in confusion, what did it mean?

Suddenly he heard a noise. He turned to see a folding screen set up by a wall. There was a figure silhouetted through the paper, kneeling down, burying its face in its hands.

"Why did you do it Shadow? Why didn't you wait? Why didn't you let me help you?" He approached the screen. Breathing beginning to quicken slightly, holding the camera tightly. He reached the screen. He crept round it, then looked behind it. There was no-one there. He looked back from the other side, the figure didn't disappear, the voice continued repeating the same phrases again and again.

Then, the image disappeared.

There was silence for a moment. Then, a scream echoed through the room as the screen lifted itself up and smashed against the wall.

It barely missed Sonic, who luckily had stepped back, trying to look for the source of the scream. Once again, there was no-one there to be seen, he was just greeted by another silence. He looked at the screen, then noticed the blue hedgehog standing next to him. He gasped and backed away, only to have the identical hedgehog grasp his arm, preventing him from getting away.

Emerald eyes met his in a sad gaze.

"I tried to help him, but he couldn't take it, it wasn't his fault, he tried." He hung his head. "He really did." Suddenly there was a bang. The younger Sonic looked frightened. He handed his older self a key. "You must leave, you're not ready, use this to open the door upstairs, and lock the door behind you, go, now!" Sonic didn't need to be told twice, he rushed upstairs. Seconds later the door was slammed behind him and he heard a voice downstairs.

"Who's here Sonic?"

"Nobody." He heard a younger voice reply.

"Well, be off then, Shadow is waiting for you in the atrium." He heard footsteps, then the voices were gone. He sighed in relief and looked round the room.

"What now?"

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Woo, that was quite a long chapter, for me anyway, please review! 


	6. Revenge

Sorry it's been so long since I've updated, but I've been busy with a shed, laminate floor and my Nirvana poster girly scream but anyway, it's here now, so stop moaning :P

DISCLAIMER - I DON'T OWN SONIC, SHADOW OR THE CAMERA OBSCURA

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Sonic found himself standing in a room full of candles all lined up on a table and flickering gently, lighting up the room with a soft glow. There were two doors, one at each side of the room, and almost immediately Sonic found himself wondering which to go through first, whichever would take him further away from the disturbing room he'd just exited quicker he decided, though at that point the wasn't entirely sure which one that was. His silent question of which one to go through was answered when the one on the right swung open with a huge bang.

Wind blew through it, and when Sonic looked through the now open doorway, he saw that it led to outside, and he quickly ran outside, thinking he'd finally found a way out of this mansion. 'It seems too easy though.' He thought as he ran along the patio. It was too good to be true, he was outside, but surrounded by walls too high for even him to get over, he was still trapped in the mansion.

The wind blew softly around his quills as he gazed round at the garden around him. There were a very trees planted around, from the patio he'd been walking on there was a path that lead through a Shinto gate to a small hut at the far end of the garden. To the side of the hut was a small side path, where there was a door that Sonic could barely see through the dark. When he looked up he saw there was a balcony on the side of the house, giving the perfect view of the garden.

When he looked further up, he could see the full moon perfectly, despite the thick layer of fog that had inexplicably covered the sky in a grey mist. The only sound in the garden was the breeze making the trees sway slightly and the sound of his own quiet breath.

The whole place gave an almost feeling of calm and total peace, a first for the foreboding mansion.

Sonic nearly jumped out of his skin when the silence was broken. He heard an almost silent humming behind him. He turned slowly to see a black and red hedgehog sitting on a bench under one of the few trees in the garden, humming softly and watching Sonic with a calm expression. Sonic found himself returning the gaze without a second thought that the other hedgehog had a certain transparency in its appearance.

They just stood staring at each other until another hedgehog joined them. A slightly younger Sonic walked slowly down the path and sat next to Shadow, who had stopped humming. They both exchanged glances before looking back at the present Sonic, who was now more confused than he had words for.

Suddenly the wind picked up and Sonic closed his eyes against it. When he opened them, the two smaller hedgehogs stood in front of him. He gasped and took a step backwards. Shadow was the one to speak.

"It will become clearer soon." He placed his hand on Sonic's, as a darkness engulfed the trio.

Sonic found himself standing between the younger two, who were watching the new scene which had unfolded before them.

"Watch." Sonic turned his head to see the same two hedgehogs sitting on the bench. Sonic's voice spoke out.

"They don't like us spending time together you know, they'll try stop us being together." Another deeper voice replied.

"I don't care, let them think what they want, they can't stop us from being happy." The blue hedgehog smiled sadly and shook his head.

"But they can, that's why I must leave."

"But, no! Why?" The blue hedgehog stood up and turned away.

"I'm scared for you, some of the people here just need an excuse to harm you, I'm sorry, if there was another way…" He shook his head again and walked away, leaving the other hedgehog staring helplessly after him, tears running down his dark muzzle.

He sat in silence for a few moments, before bowing his head and his fists began to shake with anger.

"They took Sonic way from me, they…will, pay!" A bright flash lit up the entire scene with blinding light, and when it cleared, there was no longer a black and red hedgehog, but a silver hedgehog standing there, rage and pain filling his crimson eyes.

Sonic gasped and turned to the younger Shadow.

"What happened?" But he was gone, and so was his younger self. When he turned back, the garden was back to its dark-induced state, the moss covered remains of the stone bench before him under a dying cherry blossom tree. He shook his head.

"So, it was all my fault that this happened. If I'd have just stayed…" His voice trailed off as they was a creaking noise from the tree. He gazed up, and hanging there from the tree was someone he knew very well, someone he knew better than anybody in the world, and the last person he expected to see.

Hanging from the tree by a rope round his neck, was Sonic.

His eyes went wide and he gasped as the tree groaned under his weight, his lifeless body hanging there, tears of anguish flowing down the pale dead face of his former self. The figure slowly faded away, leaving a small notebook it its place on the stone bench.

Sonic hurried to pick it up, desperate for some answers to this mansion of riddles. Whenever he found the answer to something, a million other questions popped up in the former one's place, the confusion of it all was enough to drive him mad. He flicked through the pages until he came to one with writing on it. The lettering was messy, splotched with tears of a suicidal hedgehog, the message wasn't long, but it was clear.

'I'm sorry Shadow, this is all my fault, if you'd have never met me, you'd be better off now. I gave you something so you'd forget, just forget it all. I want you to live a full life, please don't be upset, and don't seek revenge, just try to live a full life, for me, I'll love you, now and forever,

Sonic the hedgehog.'

The note feel from his hand as he stared at the resting place of his last life. Under the tree was a stone set in the ground, carved into the stone were the words,

'Here lies Sonic the hedgehog, 1800 - 1815 loved friend, he will be missed, RIP.'

Sonic stared at it, reading the words over and over again. Then he heard a voice behind him.

"So young, I'm sorry Shadow, we can never fix this." He turned to see a man standing beside him, Sakio, watching the grave, then closing his eyes as he fell to the ground. Sonic gasped and backed away from the fallen form, looking up slowly.

Shadow stood over Sakio's dead body, his blood covering his tarred body, mixing with the blood of Shadow's other victims. He looked up, for once, just one moment, there was complete understanding.

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Well, confusing enough? I hope so, because that's how it should be, please review. 


	7. The One Sole Candle

I'm sorry I took so long updating, so sorry! Kneels down and begs for forgiveness but I've finally written the next chapter, half the reason it took so long was trying to get it to make as much sense as possible, the half is that I went crazy with a shed and some paints! Don't ask, colour just makes me crazy.

DISCLAIMER - I DON'T OWN SONIC, SHADOW OR THE CAMERA OBSCURA

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Shadow stood over Sakio's dead body, his blood covering his tarred body, mixing with the blood of Shadow's other victims. He looked up, for once, just one moment, there was complete understanding.

As crimson eyes met, nothing could destroy the moment. The wind seemed to stop, everything seemed to stand still, and suddenly Sonic understood, understood everything, the killing, the angst, everything. But it wasn't enough, there was still something he needed to do.

"I promise Shadow, I'll fix this." He raised the camera and took aim, but just as he was about to take his shot, the ground shook under his feet and he dropped the camera as he stumbled around trying to find support, before failing and falling over onto the grass beneath him with a soft thump. The camera was too far away from Sonic for him to reach it, and Shadow was advancing towards him, a strange light emitting from his form as he menacingly moved closer to the blue hedgehog.

"Shadow, please stop." His voice was hardly a whisper, but it seemed to make Shadow stop in his tracks. "Shadow?" There was another moment, before the black and red hedgehog turned away from Sonic, clenching his fists and struggling to keep control of himself.

"Sonic run, quickly, get away." Sonic didn't need telling twice, he reached out for the camera but was stopped when Shadow turned round, eyes blazing with their crimson hatred again. Sonic turned on his heel and ran the other way, looking at the camera regretfully, he'd have to come back for it later. He was back in the candle-lit room, or what was the candle-lit room. A gust of wind blew through the room, extinguishing every candle in the room, except for one sole one on the table.

Sonic didn't notice this one candle as he entered the room though, because as soon as he'd closed the door, he heard it banging behind him. He turned to see what seemed to be a feeble attempt to open the door. Then he heard the pleading voice from the other side.

"Please open the door Sonic." The sound of that voice made his heart want to break in too, but he knew he couldn't open the door. He looked around, only now noticing the one sole candle lighting up the room, very poorly though, he couldn't see anything except the door. He tried to back away from the constant moving of the door, to find himself backed up against the door only a few paces back. He gasped and turned around, he was sure this room was a lot bigger.

He rushed round in the darkness, the only thing he could see was the door. The walls seemed to move in closer until he could only move a few paces each way. He stood with his back against the wall, looking at the door in fear when he heard the voice again, this time deep and menacing.

"Why don't you help me Sonic?" Then the door opened and everything turned black.

There was a candle flickering on a table, and a black and red hedgehog stood in front of it, seemingly entranced by its flickering light.

"I'm sorry Sonic, it wasn't your fault, this burden was to be mine and mine alone." He lifted a small bottle in front of himself. "But I respect your final wish, even if it means forgetting you forever." With that he downed the liquid in the small vial, then collapsed unconscious on the floor.

Sonic once again woke up in his bedroom, this time surrounded by the darkness of the candle room again, but to his relief, when he stretched out his arm, there was space. He made his way through the pitch black when he heard a shuffling noise to his right. He jumped round, to see the door wide open, only able to see it because of the one flickering candle in the corner of the room.

He cautiously crept towards the door, then ran through it, ready to make a run for it if he had to. But when he went through, there was no-one there, just the same blackness as in his bedroom, and the sound of the candle gently flickering behind him. He sighed and turned round. No torches, no light.

"This'll have to do." He said quietly and took it in his hand, making for the darkness of the hallway.

He shivered in the cold as he crept along the corridor, passing the door of his bathroom and going into his living room. A sudden gust of wind blew from the room and Sonic shielded the candle from the wind. But the wind picked up speed and blew more fiercely, until the candle went out with a small hiss, leaving Sonic alone in the room.

The storm of earlier was still raging on outside, flashes of lightning occasionally lighting up the room.

'Strange, why didn't I notice it earlier, I didn't hear the thunder before.' He stretched out his arms in front of him and tried to make his way around by the dim light of the moon, but he kept bumping into things and fell over a random object that was on the floor. 'How many times am I going to fall over today'  
He reached behind him and picked up the object behind him, it felt strangely familiar. He couldn't see it in the darkness, but when another fork lit up the sky outside, for a second he could see what it was. The camera obscura. 'Didn't I drop this in the garden?' He heard the growl of thunder in the background and flashes of light came rapidly, so Sonic could make his way towards his desk. He sat down in the chair and reached for his desk lamp. It turned on, with a sigh of relief from Sonic who could finally see the around himself.

He swivelled in the spinning chair and abruptly stopped when he saw the walls. All over the walls, there was blood, just oozing from random spots of the wall. He watched in horror as the blood seemed to form words on his wall.

'I'm…sorry…'

The words were stained in crimson on his wall as he stared on in disgust. He stepped up from his chair, camera obscura in hand. He raised the camera, and with one clear shot, he took a picture of the words. He heard a click behind him. He turned his head to see the source of the noise, a draw from under his desk had opened. He turned back to see the words had disappeared, and trusting his instinct, he edged towards the drawer, and took out the photo from inside.

It was the picture that was hanging on the wall, the one he'd taken on one of his visits to the mansion, the eerie image of two hedgehogs standing side by side. He flipped it over, on the back was a small note. 'Meet me outside, by the abyss, under the cherry blossom tree, I'll be waiting.' He felt the pressure in his hand falter, then disappear. He raised his hand which had the camera in it, to see only a small heap on dust in it.

He opened his hand and allowed the dust to fall to the floor, then looked back at the photo. 'I think I know where he means.' With that thought, he left for the abyss.

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OK, there were a few sentences which probably could've been better worded, but, meh, please review. 


	8. A short chapter

Well, yay, I'm updating this story too, as I said I would. Yay.

Disclaimer - I don't own Sonic, Shadow or the camera obscura.

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It was dark as Sonic walked towards Shadow, who sat silently under the cherry blossom tree, waiting his arrival patiently. Sonic sat down next to him.

"I haven't been here in so long, I didn't even remember it until now. It all seems so obvious." Shadow took his hand comfortingly and smiled.

"You've nearly solved the puzzle, soon, we'll be together again, just like we were before…" he trailed off. "But the next tasks you shall face are the hardest you have encountered, it will take all your skills, and without the camera, now it's even harder." He smiled, "But I believe you can do it, you have to." He leant his head on Sonic's shoulder as his image began to fade. "I look forward to being with you again. But for us to be together you must trust me, look into the abyss, it may not make sense at first, but all will become clear, when you cannot see."

Sonic looked at him in confusion as he slowly disappeared.

"But how can I see clearly, when I can see nothing at all?" He mused out loud as he glanced nervously at the abyss. But all doubts exited his mind when he thought of Shadow's words. 'Of course I trust you.' He slowly walked over to the abyss, he remembered the last time he'd been here, he was only young, about five years old, but he remembered as clear as though it had only happened yesterday.

Sonic was playing in forest, in was a clear summer day, and he stopped as he came across the abyss. His childish curiosity outweighed the cautious voices in his head telling his to run quickly in the other direction, and he went over to see what was in it, when he was stopped by a man.

"No child, you must not look down there." Sonic remembered being confused by this.

"Why not."

"That is the abyss, unspeakable horrors happen to those who gaze into its depths, you must never look inside, understand?"

Sonic nodded and edged away, then ran away, he remembered not liking the man, he was strange and scary. That night he'd dreamt of a strange mansion. Nothing was ever the same again.

It seemed strange how one little occurrence could ripple through your life until it effected everything, for your sleep at night, to your nervousness around people who looked eerily familiar. Sonic was trapped in these thoughts as he kneeled over the abyss. He looked down into the depths of it. Nothing happened.

Then everything was black.

"AAAGGHH!" Sonic clutched his hands to his eyes and screamed in pain. "My eyes, my eyes!" He opened them and looked around, he couldn't see anything, everything was dark. "I can't see, Shadow?" He reached out his arms and stumbled around, trying to get his footing. He was slowly making his way through the forest when he slipped.

He remembered falling, tumbling down a steep slope.

Then he awoke in the mansion. Sonic tried to see around him in vain, he couldn't see anything, what if a spirit came now? He had no camera, he could barely walk never mind run.

"Shadow why?" He shook his head as the began to get frustrated with stumbling around. He had managed to support himself on something when he heard Shadow's voice in his head.

"Now, things will soon become clear."

He shakily stood and bowed his head.

"How Shadow? You're not making any sense." He felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Just trust me, if you don't, we're doomed." The hand disappeared, leaving Sonic alone in the room.

"Shadow?" He slumped and carefully tried to move round the room. What room was he even in? He cried out as he tripped over something lying on the ground. "This is hopeless." He drew his knees to his chest and began to sob quietly as he felt the darkness engulf him, the darkness that was there when he opened his eyes, it was worse than any other he'd ever experienced. "Shadow."

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I know it was short, but I'm tired, deal with it. Really short.

Please review, pretty please. 


	9. Burning in the Darkness

Woo, I finally decided to update, sorry it took so long, but I've been busy, I don't suppose anyone knows any decent take kwon do schools in west Yorkshire? ;

DISCLAIMER - I DON'T OWN SONIC, SHADOW OR THE CAMERA OBSCURA

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The endless darkness seemed to taunt Sonic as he stumbled around the room, in complete silence and dark, he didn't even know where he was. He stopped when he heard a quiet noise to his left, he recognised it as the soft flickering of a single candle. 'For all that it'll help me now.' He thought as he made his way towards it, at least he knew where he was now. He drew his hand back sharply, gasping when he felt hot wax against it, he closed his eyes, this was hopeless.

When he opened his eyes again though, he was amazed to find, he could see.

It was dark all around, but the lone candle, standing on the table, he could see it clear as day. He turned his head round, he couldn't see anything else. He looked back to the candle, why was this the only thing he could see. 'It must be important,' he gave a small smile, 'maybe Shadow does know what he's talking about.' He took the candle by the small stand it was on and took a moment to think. 'If the candle is here, then the door isn't much further.'

He reached out his arm and tried to make his way over to the right, finding comfort in the soft glow of the candle. After a few seconds of fumbling around, he found the handle and slowly walked through, careful not to bump into anything or fall over. He felt the breeze of the outdoors blow through his quills, and he could hear the trees rustling as they swayed. He slowly made his way across, trying to picture the garden in his mind and remember where everything was, when he heard a sound that chilled him to the bone.

"Why didn't you help me Sonic?" His heart seemed to stop as he heard Shadow's voice behind him, low and menacing. He swivelled round, but the darkness stretched out in front of him, and he tried desperately to find out just where Shadow was exactly. He backed away from the voice and tripped over something lying on the ground, dropping the candle on the ground with a small thud. He looked round, trying to find it, when he saw a blazing flame burn onto the ground.

He gasped and tried to get away, but there was something behind him, preventing him from escaping,. He eyed the fire fearfully as it blazed across the floor closer to him. He got to his feet and tried to back up closer to the surface behind him when he felt a hand on his arm.

"Come on Sonic." It was Shadow again, but this time, his voice was soft, nothing to be feared of, but suggested there was plenty to fear. "Come on, just follow me." The hand kept its tight grip on him and Sonic followed where it led. He heard a few doors open and close, and he stumbled up some stairs with some help with Shadow, and after going through a final door, Shadow stopped, helping Sonic to a railing.

The same outdoor breeze blew around him, and he could hear the familiar burning of the fire, but he felt safe as Shadow wrapped his arms around him.

"Look down." Sonic obediently did just that, and his eyes widened at the sight before him. Etched into the darkness and shadows was a burning fire, but not just a fire, it had burned into a pattern, one Sonic remembered, although he wasn't sure where from.

"The kusabi symbol, something is wrong." That was it! Sonic knew he'd seen it before, but the contentment of remembering was soon replaced with the fear of remembering. The symbol of the kusabi was a bad omen, one of the worst, an omen on the repentance. But it always needed a body to house it, but who…?

Suddenly everything clicked, everything made sense. The repentance needed someone to house it, someone vengeful, someone who wouldn't be able to control the evil inside, the one that was meant to sleep forever. For if it should awaken, doom should befall everything in the manor of evil souls, the place where everything wretched was, and kept under lock and key, lest it should escape and be unleashed on the world. A house visited only in the darkest dreams, a house only existing in the mind, for that house is your evil side, the manor of sleep.

Sometimes you just can't stop the evil from escaping.

Suddenly Sonic was drawn into another vision, he was in the garden, but he was moving. He slowly went to the small hut that stood alone in the corner and went inside, to see a black and red hedgehog standing alone in front of wall. On the wall was a symbol marked in red. Sonic gasped when he saw that the red was not paint or anything similar, but crimson blood dripping from the walls, like in his home. His eyes widened when he saw the slash marks covering Shadow's blood. Was that blood, his?

He was brought quickly out of his thoughts as Shadow finally seemed to realise that he was not alone in the hut. He turned around, fury blazing blood red in his eyes as he advanced slowly towards Sonic.

"I'm sorry…" Then he was knocked out of consciousness.

Sonic woke with a start, looking around in the dark as he lay beside the abyss. He shivered and held his knees close as he found himself in total darkness again.

"I forgive you Shadow, just let this stop." As he stumbled his way back home, Sonic couldn't see that his fur had suddenly turned the brightest white, illuminating all around him, but he couldn't see it as his own shadowy world closed in around him.

It took hours, but he finally got home, covered in scratches and bruises from falling over so many times on his way home. He managed to make his way to the living room where he collapsed exhausted on the couch.

"How do I stop this?" He opened his eyes, not even realising he'd closed them and averted his eyes to a wall. They widened when he saw the burning glow scorched into his wall. The kusabi symbol was etched in crimson, and in the darkness, it stood menacingly and loomed over Sonic as he froze. He suddenly heard a voice.

"Shadow, where are you?" He gasped and jumped off the seat, circling round, trying to find the source of the voice.

"Shadow, help, I can't see where I am, Shadow?" Sonic stopped in his tracks when he backed against the wall, the kusabi symbol burning overhead. He could still hear the pitiful voice in the darkness. "Shadow, I can't see, where are you? Help me!" Sonic wanted desperately to help, but he knew he couldn't. Something suddenly clicked in his mind.

'He can't see, maybe if I don't make too much noise…' He stood perfectly still as he heard footsteps around the room, then a gasp.

"Shadow, the kusabi symbol, Shadow! Shadow where are you?" He heard the figure desperately trying to get away, and sighed in relief when he heard it run through the door. 'That was me,' he knew it was his voice that had called out for help, 'so in my other life I couldn't see, but,' he looked up at the kusabi symbol, 'I could see things others couldn't.'

He put his hand to the wall where the writing burned. It didn't feel hot, but still it burned like a flame. 'What am I supposed to do Shadow? I'm confused.' He made his way quietly over to the desk, if that ghost was still here, he didn't want to him back. He slumped over in his seat and reached out onto it, feeling the photos on it. 'If there's anything special about them, I should be able to see it,' he reasoned in his mind, and smiled triumphantly when an image caught his eye.

It was one he'd seen before, two hedgehogs, one black, one white, both with red streaks, stood facing each other, but there was something different about the white one. It's eyes were covered with a cloth with the kusabi symbol on it, and blood seemed to drip down through it. He looked at the cloth. The kusabi symbol. 'Does that mean?' He suddenly had an idea. 'It must, I don't like it but, if it means finally being with Shadow…'

He grinned, if anyone had been around to see, they'd have seen the pure evil behind that smile as the idea played out in Sonic's head, an idea that went against all his morals, but the final solution to the puzzle none the less. A manic laughter echoed from the house of Sonic the hedgehog that night, as he finally fell asleep…

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Well, there's only one or two chapters after this, aren't you just itching to know what happens? Well I write on a whim, so I can't tell you until I've written it, you'll just have to wait, review, and see.

Please review! 


	10. Together Forever

Woo, it's eleven at night and I decided to write the next chapter. As usual, not much to say, so, woo.

DISCLAIMER - I DON'T OWN SONIC, SHADOW OR THE CAMERA OBSCURA OR THE KUSABI (I'm just saying that in case, it's technically a real Japanese term so…whatever)

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Sonic walked slowly down the corridor, following the figures in front of him, they were so blurry, who were they? They carried on through the scene, Sonic didn't know where he was going or why, he just knew he should follow those people. They stopped in front of a huge pit. Sonic looked to his right to see a blood stained black and red hedgehog, the only clear image against everything else, shivering and tears falling down his muzzle. But everything else, just a haze.

'The manor of sleep, where dreams blur into reality.'

Sonic opened his eyes to a familiar darkness, one he'd grown used to surprisingly quickly over the past 24 hours, maybe it was because he was blind in his other life, Sonic reasoned with himself. He got up to his feet, when he saw a burning flame in the corner of his eye. On the wall the kusabi symbol scorched on, he must still be in the hut.

He slowly made his way in the opposite direction of the symbol, and after fumbling round the wall found the door. He carefully walked down the stairs, holding tightly onto the railings. He forgot about the last step though, and was about to tumble down when two crimson-streaked arms caught him.

"Careful Sonic." He looked round to see a kind face looking down at him. He smiled back at the caring expression on his face and felt the other hedgehog steady him and lead him away. "Just come with me." Sonic found himself being carefully led round the side of the hut and down the side, along a narrow pathway Sonic had noticed when he still had his sight. They went through a tall door and came to a small bank on the edge of a vast lake, it stretched out farther than the eye could see, unfortunately in Sonic's case, he couldn't see it at all, but he could hear the soothing lapping of the calm water.

Down the centre of the lake suspended by beams was a pathway, lined with Shinto gates, it curved off so you couldn't see where it went, but it was obvious it went very far. Shadow helped Sonic down this path, careful that he didn't fall into the misty water with the spirits that haunted it.

It took a long time of walking in silence, Sonic just following Shadow and focusing on him, the one thing he could see, and Shadow, leading the way, deep in thought, before they arrived at their destination. Sonic looked at Shadow expectantly, who had stopped abruptly, gazing round in what seemed to Sonic an endless darkness. The absence of the soft breeze told Sonic he had gone inside, though he didn't remember going through a door, but he did remember stairs, they must've have gone underground, but how did they go underwater?

After his pause, Shadow continued walking, Sonic following his bright image in his shadowy world. 'Ironic,' Sonic thought, 'Shadow is the only thing that isn't a dark shadow now.' He clung tightly to him as they ventured on down the unknown pathway, until Shadow stopped. Sonic looked at him, then across the room.

He gasped when he saw the scene played out before him, he could see it all, the dead bodies being thrown into the pit by disturbing figures completely covered in dark clothing, and, Shadow, sitting alone by a wall, shivering and sobbing quietly. The screams and shrieks of tormented souls tore through the air, but above all the noise, one voice rung clearly above it all.

"Shadow?" He turned quickly to see his former self standing and looking out at the scene, "Why didn't you let me help you? Why didn't you tell me?" Sonic looked quizzically at the hedgehog, instead of the usual startling azure blue, his fur was the purest white, with blood-red streaks running through it. And the figure wore a cloth round his eyes, Sonic's eyes widened as blood began to slowly drip down.

"Now, we can't be together like we promised…" He clenched his fists, "YOU RUINED EVERYTHING!" With that he ran off, leaving the remaining two hedgehogs in the room, as the Shadow that had been helping Sonic had disappeared. When Sonic turned back, he was surprised to see the image had blurred again, and the only clear image was the black and red hedgehog staring at him straight in the eye.

Sonic tried to back away, but found himself unable to, he turned his head and saw a reflective surface around him. He looked round, and he was encircled by mirrors, each showing him the snow white hedgehog trying to make his escape. He stopped his circling when a comforting hand took hold of him. Something was placed in his hand. He looked down to see the cloth in his hands. He looked up at Shadow, who was smirking manically.

A plan that went against all his morals…Sonic looked at the cloth.

But the final solution to the puzzle none the less.

He gave his own menacing smirk as he tried the cloth round his eyes and felt the sudden urge of power run through him, and the two hedgehogs faced the abyss. They faced each other, and as they did, a mysterious light formed above the abyss, but Sonic couldn't see it, all he could see was his beloved opposite him, and the souls that came pouring from the abyss.

The gateway to Hell was opened, Sonic had opened it with Shadow.

It was all as the prophecy foretold.

A sudden surge of light emitted from the hedgehogs, and they both sat proud on their thrones, wearing their crowns of fire and the spirits awaited their command. Sonic looked at Shadow, and Shadow looked back.

"Together forever," Sonic said quietly. Shadow took his hand.

"You knew I'd wait forever." They both turned to their newly risen army, and with triumphant grins.

The repentance.

Sonic and Shadow stood on the balcony of their dark castle, overlooking the darkness and shadows of the planet that had once been Earth, now their domain, exactly as Sonic had seen it, seeing nothing but each other and the evil spirits under their guard.

"We finally got out revenge," Sonic whispered. Shadow wrapped his arms round him.

"Did you expect any less?" Sonic snickered.

"Not really," he faced Shadow, "I knew you'd wait for me." Their lips met in a sinful caress as the planet below them became all it was before and ever will be, Hell on Earth.

And as the darkness finally consumed, a cloth hung on a wall in a manor, a manor only visited in your worst nightmares, because it was your nightmare, your own place of darkness to call your own, and a voice echoed through the halls.

"Together forever…"

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Well, it's finished, but as promised I'll write a chapter explaining just in case.

Please review! 


	11. I hope it Makes Sense

OK, here's the chapter I said I would make, just in case you stil didn't completely understand, so, I hope I word this all clearly.

In the story there are three different Sonics, the young one which tries to help him, the present day Sonic that we follow in the story, and the Sonic that is seen in flashbacks and visions. The young Sonic doesn't appear much and only does so for the sole purpose of helping the present day Sonic, he could be considered the 'good' half of Sonic. The Sonic seen in the visions is who the present day Sonic was in a past life, he was blind but had a sixth sense and could see things that others couldn't, ironically. He loved Shadow, but circumstances wouldn't let them be together, they decided to house the kusabi (the repntance which could mark the end of all life on Earth etc.) as it was the only way they could be together. Before they could do this though Shadow went mad and couldn't wait for Sonic, so he killed all the people in the mansion. Sonic, now knowing that in this life he couldn't be with Shadow, hung himself, leaving behind an elixer which would give Shadow amnesia, and was re-incarnated to the present day Sonic. The Sonic we follow in the story starts visiting the manor of sleep in his dreams, no-one else could ever visit it since it is all parts of the subconcious mind, since Sonic had been there in a past life, and because of his sixth sense, he could remember it, but only in hidden parts of his mind, so he had to solve clues to help him discover of his former self. He'd had an unhhealthy obsession with finding Shadow when he fell from the ark which he couldn't explain, but later knew that it was because of the love the two of them shared, and the promise to wait always, so they could finally be together. He later looks into the abyss, which blinds him since no-one can look directly at the hell gate, so then he can house the kusabi as the white hedgehog in a prophecy. He and Shadow then go on and unleash the repentance on the world, making it into the place of darkness which only Sonic could truly understand. Through the story though, his dreams blur into reality, we leave the story in what seems to be the real world to Sonic, but his ever-lasting darkness doesn't allow him to be able to distinguise places (I may make a cliffhanger, evil grin).

Throughout the story we meet three Shadows, the 'good' one which helps Sonic, the veangeful one which went mad and killed everyone in the manor, and the neutral Shadow which finally goes on to house the kusabi with Sonic. The veangeful Shadow cannot be beaten with the camera since he is so strong, and with a single touch could either kill Sonic or force him into a vision. When the neutral Shadow houses the kusabi with Sonic, a ritual is complete which opens the gate to Hell, allowing the spirits to roam free in the world, where they will cause all life to cease to exist. Shadow is not blind like Sonic, but they're both needed for the ritual, Sonic being the darkness and Shadow being a sort of link that holds everything together.

In their former lives, people frowned upon them being together nad they knew the consequences of anyone knowing their love, when the kusabi symbol appeared on the hut wall, it gave them an oppurtunity to be together forever, even if it meant causing the repentance. Shadow went mad though and killed everyone in the mansion, they couldn't do the ritual, and Sonic knowing they wouldn't be with each other, at least in this lifetime, hung himself. Shadow used an elixir Sonic left him to forget everything, and goes to live on until the ark, where he falls to his death. Both were now in their next lives, Sonic becoming obsessed with finding Shadow for reasons he wasn;t even sure of himself until later. In the end, they house the kusabi and unleash the repentance, thus being together forever at last.

Well, I hope it all made sense, if parts don't, please tell me and I'll clarify, but, I think I might do that cliffhanger,


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